According to NASA, the possibility of an asteroid as large as the width of the Earth, hitting the width of the NFL field, continues to be ticked.
The recently discovered asteroid 2024 YR4 currently has a 2.6% chance of impact, with one chance in 38 cases. This increases from the 1.9% chance and the first 1% chance in late January. Conversely, this means that there is an over 97% chance that an asteroid will pass Earth.
The celestial body is estimated to be between 130 and 300 feet wide and is expected to sway near Earth on December 22, 2032.
According to NASA, the possibility of an asteroid as large as the width of the Earth, hitting the width of the NFL field, continues to be ticked. The recently discovered asteroid 2024 YR4 currently has a 2.6% chance of impact, with one chance in 38 cases. The image above is an illustration. (istock)
Stadium-sized asteroids considered “potentially dangerous” by NASA are expected to travel “relatively close” to Earth
With a better understanding of the asteroid's path around the Sun, the probability of a strike almost certainly continues to rise and fall, and astronomers said it is likely that there will be zero risk.
NASA and the European Space Agency's Webb Space Telescope observe this nearby asteroid in March, before the object disappeared from view. Once that happens, scientists will have to wait until 2028, once again passing our path.
If the 2024 YR4 is unlikely to be on impact trajectory, NASA says that this impact will be along the risk corridor across the East Pacific, South America, North America, Atlantic, Africa, the Arabian Sea and South Asia He said it would happen. NASA said if it hits Earth, it would hit at high speed, about 38,000 miles per 38,000 miles.
Asteroids are given 10 levels 3 out of 10 on the Turin impact hazard scale. This is used to measure the potential dangers posed by objects near the Earth.
This image was made available by the University of Hawaii Asteroid Impact Alert System and shows the asteroid 2024 YR4 on December 27, 2024. (Atlas/NASA via the University of Hawaii AP)
Stadium-sized asteroids considered “potentially dangerous” by NASA are expected to travel “relatively close” to Earth
Level 3 shows “A close encounter worthy of attention from astronomers. Current calculations provide more than 1% chance of collisions that allow local destruction. Perhaps new telescope observations go to level 0. leads to reallocation of the public servants. If the encounter is within ten years, the attention of civil servants and civil servants is valuable.”
The alert level is the second highest recorded since 2004 when the asteroid Apophis reached level 4, but later additional observations revealed that its trajectory was at about 20,000 miles of safety distance in 2029 I decided to pass.
But experts say it's too early to worry about this asteroid.
The orbit of the 2024 YR4, which has its position as of January 31, 2025. (NASA)
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“No one should be concerned about the increased impact odds. This is what our team was expecting,” said Paul Chodas, director of NASA's Center for Close Object Research, AP. He told the newsletter. “To be clear, we expect the impact probability to be zero at some point.”
Asteroid 2024 YR4 was first to Minor Planet Centre, an international clearing house for small body positioning by the Asteroid Land Impact Trastor Alt System (ATLAS), funded by Chile's NASA-funded Asteroid Land Impact Trastor Altitude System (ATLAS) on December 27th It was reported. It is managed by the world and the University of Hawaii Institute of Astronomy.
Fox Weather and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
